Road Trip

I am with Ray, Rachael, Liz and Liz’s boyfriend, Ron, en route to our Texas home in Sherman, sixty miles north of Dallas. We started yesterday afternoon at 4, drove until 1 am when we reached Williams, AZ and now have been driving since 8 am. It is almost 8 pm now and we will reach Sherman, hopefully, at around 1 am. My rear end is tired from so much sitting!

We have stopped only for gas and fast food, which has consisted of all the usual suspects, McDonalds, Subway and Taco Bell. Last night we were planning our Christmas meal at Del Taco only to discover that it was closed. Instead we ate at Panda Express with all the other travelers who were on the road on Christmas Day. Clearly, one obvious New Years’s resolution will be to shed these “fast food” pounds.

The roads have been clear except for snow at Williams. There was residual snow from a recent storm all through eastern AZ and western New Mexico, big fat flakes on the trees, which made everything looked flocked. Quite beautiful.

We are making our way eastward with the aid of Satellite radio. We listened to Outlaw Country for part of the way, but have shifted to music of the 90s: Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, Real2Real. Currently it is Aerosmith’s “Sweet Misery.” The radio makes this very long trip a lot more entertaining. Here comes Madonna’s “Vogue.”

I have taken my turn driving and now Rachael is behind the wheel. Ray, Ron and I are presently in the back seat and the girls are up front. This is noteworthy mainly due to its rarity. Usually I drive until I am way too tired then Ray takes over until he reaches the destination for the night. So, this is a pleasant change and much safer.